Under the mask – part of the UnNaturalverse

Under the mask – part of the UnNaturalverse

The mask was stifling, he could barely breathe. The kevlar material clung to his head, the eye slits were narrower than they normally would be, it helped him, forced him to focus. That was important, he needed that focus. The vampire that had killed Faith had been quicker than he’d expected it to be. He thought he could protect her but he’d been wrong.

Her loss, still haunted Austin. It was why he wore the mask in the first place, Faith had always called him her little clown. The mask reminded him of her, reminded him of why he did what he did. The vampire he was never able to track down.

Austin had spoken to several so-called vampire experts, but none of them could explain why avampire would attack a family once in an area then completely leave. The only thing they could agree on was it was unusual. So Austin trained and trained, joining the Supernatural Response Team, raising his rank within until he finally earned the right to be promoted to Unit Gamma.

He’d been partnered up with a pleasant guy called Lakota Black, his partner was one of the free-spirit types but that didn’t bother Austin much. Likewise, his own love of comics wasn’t ridiculed by Lakota. They worked well together and although they had managed to kill several vamps over their time together. That one vampire still alluded him.

The last vampire case they did was almost a year ago now. Now someone else was in his life, someone who’d helped him over his loss, someone who had become worth protecting. Although he had to admit she could protect herself quite well, she certainly was special.

With a sigh, Austin placed the mask into the box. He was finally going to put it away, he’d found another reason to go on. The mask held him back in the bad memories, now he had someone else to focus on, and she was most definitely worth it…